Machine for opening and feeding tobacco



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

C. L. CURTIS 8v B. .QLDRIAlVCLELL MACHINE PoR vOBBNING AND PEBDING TOBACCO.

,Patented Mar. 2.8.1832.-

N. PETERS. Phaxuinogmphsr. washingm. D. C

(No-Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

l C. L. CURTIS 8v B. ADRIZANE.

` MACHINE PON OPENING AND 'PENDING ToBAGGo. `No. 255.494. Paten-ted Ma.1.28,1882.'

y f/JJM ghjmm/ @ZMMM' www@ N. PETERS. Puma-Lnngnpmr. washingnm. uc.

(No Moda.) s sheets-sheet s. C. L. CURTIS 8: B. ADRIANCE. MACHINE EGE OPENING AND EEEDING TOBAGGO. No. 255,494.

Patented Mau.v 28, 1882.

flu/WM5@ www mM-f @my adam@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. CURTIS AND BENJAMIN ADRANOE, 'OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

MACHINE FOR OPENING AND FEEDING TOBACCO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,494, dated March 2.8, 1882.

Application tiled May 18, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, CHARLES L. CURTIS and BENJAMIN ADRIANCE, of Brooklyn, in the county ot' Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Machinery for Opening and Feeding Tobacco, of which the following is a specification.

The object ofthis invention is, first, to separate from a mass of tobacco so much as is required to feed a cigarette or other machine au- .tomatically and with uniformity, second, to

loosen and pull apart the tobacco and render it ot' uniform condition as it passes from the machine.

' In the drawings, Figure lis an elevation of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a plan ofthe same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical' section of the operative parts of the machine. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the lower feeding-belt and graduating-roller, and Fig. 5 is a plan ot' the cntter-bars.

The hopper (t is adapted to receive the tobacco thatis em ploycd in making the cigarettes. This tobacco is generally' in the form of very ne threads,-and it has topbe opened and separated, so as to be passed with uniformity into the machine.

At the lower part of the. hopper there are one or more serrated or toothed feeding rolls orcylinders, b, preferably formed of gangs of saws Withintervening washers; and c c are stationary stripperfingers, that are made ot' tapering curved bars th at are below the toothed cylinders and occupy the spaces between the saws, and act to force the tobacco ot't' the teeth of the toothed feedcylinders and cause it to fall in an`open or loose sheet or ribbon from below the feed-rollers.

Y It sometimes happens that the ne threads of tobacco pass in between the stripper-lingers and the saws, or they adhere tothe lingers. To remove these we employ the vibratorsc', each of which is formed of the two end pieces having the shaft of the feedcylinder for its point of suspension, and these end pieces are united by a cross bar, 2, around which there are two or more volute springs, that support thevibrator-plate c' and press it toward the fingers c, and this blade serves to strip oft' any threads of tobacco and prevent them being moved along the lingers by the action of the saws, and to the vibrator a motion is given by a crank or arm and cam, or eq uivalentdevice, the extent otfmotion being indicated by dotted lines.

In other parts ofthe machine hereinafter described similar vibrators are shown, and as they all act in a similar manner to prevent the threads of tobacco accumulating upon the stripping fingers or devices, their mode ot' construction and operationneed not be further set forth.

In the hopper there is abar,d',havinga row ot' fingers or cutters on each edge, and below the same is a serrated cutter, d, that receives a rapid vibrating motion endwise. These fingers serve to detain the tobacco, open the same as the feed-cylinders carry the tobacco down under them, and the vibrating cutter-bar, a`cting with the lower stationary cutter-bar, separates the tobacco and prevents the same being carried down in too great quantity by the feedrollers. The lower cutter maybe the-one that is stationary, or they may both be vibrated in opposite directions. There is also a swinging plate, e', above the cutter-bars, that is moved lirst one way and then the other, as indicated by dotted lines, so as to prevent the tobacco remaining and packing into a hard mass on the cutter-bar.

In some cases the bar d', with its fingers, may be used with the swinging plate e without the vibrating cutter-bar d, and we remark that it is preferable to employ lingers, with sharpedges that act with the vibrating cutters like shears. Y

Below the toothed feed-cylinders there is separating-hopper, f, that is above the roller g', and there is an opening in one side of the hopper, as at l, through which any accumulation of tobacco will fall into a receiver, j', it there is more tobacco fed down than will be supported upon the beltg, which passes around roller g. The lower belt, g, passes around the small roller 5, and there is a tightener-roller, g2, that is acted upon by a lever or weight to keep the belt under the proper tension, and h is the upper belt, passing aroundl the rollers h and 6 and 7, and h2 is a tightener for the same, and each operative portion of the belt is backed up with a table, k being the lower and k the upper table. One or more of the IOC respective belt-rollers are revolved so as to move the ripper and lower belt at the same speed, and the tobacco is carried along upon the lower belt, g, between that and the upper belt, h, and a layerv of uniform thickness is formed, the lower edge,f2, of thehopperfaet ing as a bathe-plate for determining the thick' ness of the layer that passes in upon the belt g.

There are side guides or fingers, c2, (see Fig. 4,) that are between the two belts, and prevent the tobacco spreading widthwise of the belts.

The graduating-roller l is made with numerous small pins in its surface. This roller is moved at a regular speed, and serves to mensure the amount, of tobacco. There is a plate, S, that is slotted for the passage ot' the pins ot' the roller I, which plate extends from the belt g to the graduating-roller, to prevent the tobacco from lodging in the triangular space between the parts. The belts g and h are moved faster than the surtitce-speed of the grad uating-roller I. Hence the tobacco is constantly pressed by the action of the belts toward the graduating-roller, the pins in which, by entering the mass of tobacco, prevent the tobacco moving faster than the graduatingroller. By the combined action ot' the rapidmoving belts and the retarding action of the graduating-loll, the tobacco is caused to pack and till the space between the belts. Therefore the layer ot' tobacco taken ot' by the pins ot' the.gradhating-roller will be as uniform` as possible.

There is a toothed or serrated roll or cylinder, m, revolving contiguous to the graduating-roll in such a manner that the teeth ot' the serrated roll pass between the pins or teeth of the graduating-roll. The toothed roll m revolves at amuch higher rate of speed than the graduating-roll, the object being the tearing or taking away of the tobacco regularly from the graduating-roll, the slow relative action of the latter aiding the result by the tobacco being held by the pins or teeth on its surface. If any tobacco escapes the action of the toothed roll, it is removed from the graduating-roll by the combined action of stripper-fingers, as Z3, and vibrator Z4, similar to those before setforth. This toothed cylinder m is made up preferably of saws with small-sized intervening washers, and there are also intervening eccentric plates a between the saws, and having holes large enough for the washers between the saws. These eccentric plates are kept from turning by the fixed bolt n2, and they act to strip the tobacco from the teeth ot' the. saws. Thereis also a vibrator, L', similar to the vibrator c', to clean the surface of eccentric strippers.

Power is communicated to the machine by the belt and pulley 9 upon the shaft 10, and this shaft, through various pulleys and belts, communicates motion to the other parts of the machine, as hereinafter set forth. Upon said shaft 10 there is a star cam-wheel, 11, and there is a slide, 12, one end of which slides in a bracket upon the frame of the machine, and near the other end is an opening for the passage of the shaft 10, and this slide rests upon said shaft, or upon a friction-roller, and there are rollers 13 upon this slide l2, against which the teeth of the revolving star-cam act. The revolution of star cam-wheel 11 gives a forward and backward movement to the slide 12, and it moves the lever 14 and swinging plate c', both of which are on the shaft 15. The slide 12 communicates a forward and backward movement to the lower or moving cutter-bar,d, through the. L-shaped leverarm 16, (see Fig. 2,) which is pivoted to a bracket on the fraaie of the machine. The shafts 17 1S of the toothed feeding rolls or cylinders b form pivots for the lever-arms 19 20, which carry the vibrating blades c e', and the upper ends of said lever-arms have slots, in which work pins upon the slide 12, and the arms 19 20 receive their swinging movement from said slide 12, and the arm 19 communicates by the link 21 motion to the lever-arm 22, that carries the vibrating blades l', and this is connected to the arm of the vibrating blade l* by the link 23. The shafts 24 and 25 of the wheel m and graduating-roller] form the pivots for the said levers.

The toothed feeding rollers or cylinders b upon shafts 17 1S are geared together on one side of the machine and driven by a pulley, 28, on the shaft 1S, which is belted to a pulley, 29, on the drivingshaft l0. The rollcrg is driven by a pulley, 30, on its shat't 26, which is belted to a pulley, 31, on the driving-shaft 10, and said roller g gives motion to the belt g. The roller 7L upon the shaft 27 is driven by a pulley, 32, and cross-belt to a pulley upon the shaft 26, and tllese rollers g h are of the same size, and the pulleys on their respective shafts are also of the same size, and the belts g h receive thereby a regular and even motion in the same direction. The graduating-roller lupon the shaft 25 is driven by pulley 33 upon its shaft, and a belt to a pulley, 34, upon the driving-shaft 10. The toothed roller orvcylinder m upon the shaft 24 is driven by a pulley, 35, upon its shaft, which is belted to a pulley, 36, on shaft 26. (See Fig. 2.)

le would here remark that the sizes of the various pulleys on the driving-shaft and the sizes of the pulleys on the operating-shafts are so graded and the speed of the parts so timed thereby that the best practically operative results are obtained; but we do not limit ourselves to the sizes of these pulleys or to the relative speeds of the operating mechanism, as these may be changed without departing from the essential features of invention.

The devices thus far described are specially intended for use in preparing the tobacco for cigarettes; but it will be obvious that the above-described feeding device can be used in any machine where an automatic tobacco-feed is required, either in the combination of the hopper-feed and graduating belts and roll, or

IOO

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Y separately, the hopper-feed alone being sufficient where perfect uniformity of feed is not essential.

Thereare. three several ways in which we may use the feeding device:

First, We may use it in the combination and manner fully described and se't forth.

Second, we may remove the hopper-feed and substitutehand or other feed in its stead, the

combination of the graduating belts and rolls` remaining as set forth, the lower belt being extended so as to receive the tobacco upon it; or,

Third, we may extend the lower belt to any convenient length, move it and the upper belt at the same speed, and both at the speed of the graduating-roll. In this case we would substitute for the hand or hopper feed the dis- 4tribution of a fixed weighed quantity of to-4 bacco evenly distributed over a fixed or determined superficial area of belt, all s0 proportioned as to supply the properamount of to- -bacco.

We claim as our inventionl. The combination of a feed-hopper, one or more toothed feed-cylinders, stripper-fingers, and vibrators, substantially as set forth.

2. rlhe combination, with the hopper and toothed feed-rollers, ot' the stationary cutter fingers and reciprocating cutter-bar, substanchine, of the hopper, toothed feed-rollers, separating-hopperf, with a mouth at one side, and

the roller or belt g, substantially as set forth.

6. An endless belt, g, in combination with the graduating-roller l, having pins upon its periphery, substantially as set forth.

7. The endless belts g and h and their respective rollers and belttables,in combination with the graduating-roller Z, having pins or teeth on its surface, substantially as set forth.

8. The endless belts g and h and their respective rollers and belttables,in combination with the graduating-roller l, having pins or teeth on its surface, and the guide-fingers between the belts, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination, with the belts g and h, of the graduating-roller Z,having pins or teeth in its surface, and the notched bridge 8 between the belt g and the graduating-roller Z, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination, with the belts g and h and baffle-platef?, of the graduating-roller having pins or teeth in its surface, substantially as set forth. l

11. The combination, with the belts g and h and graduating-roller, of the strippers L3 and Vibrator Z4, substantially as set forth.

12. The combinatiomwith the graduatingroller, ofthe serrated or toothed cylinder m 

